WELCOME TO THE CFZ BLOG NETWORK: COME AND JOIN THE FUN

Half a century ago, Belgian Zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans first codified cryptozoology in his book On the Track of Unknown Animals.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) are still on the track, and have been since 1992. But as if chasing unknown animals wasn't enough, we are involved in education, conservation, and good old-fashioned natural history! We already have three journals, the largest cryptozoological publishing house in the world, CFZtv, and the largest cryptozoological conference in the English-speaking world, but in January 2009 someone suggested that we started a daily online magazine! The CFZ bloggo is a collaborative effort by a coalition of members, friends, and supporters of the CFZ, and covers all the subjects with which we deal, with a smattering of music, high strangeness and surreal humour to make up the mix.

It is edited by CFZ Director Jon Downes, and subbed by the lovely Lizzy Bitakara'mire (formerly Clancy), scourge of improper syntax. The daily newsblog is edited by Corinna Downes, head administratrix of the CFZ, and the indexing is done by Lee Canty and Kathy Imbriani. There is regular news from the CFZ Mystery Cat study group, and regular fortean bird news from 'The Watcher of the Skies'. Regular bloggers include Dr Karl Shuker, Dale Drinnon, Richard Muirhead and Richard Freeman.The CFZ bloggo is updated daily, and there's nothing quite like it anywhere else. Come and join us...

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Unlike some of our competitors we are not going to try and blackmail you into donating by saying that we won't continue if you don't. That would just be vulgar, but our lives, and those of the animals which we look after, would be a damn sight easier if we receive more donations to our fighting fund. Donate via Paypal today...




Friday, October 23, 2015

WYRD: 4th Eden goes all soundscapy

4th Eden (aka Martin Eve) has finally released his second album called 'Pictures On A Soundscape'. Written over the past three years this collection of nine tracks takes you on a journey through an electronic landscape. With contributions from Soundcloud chums, Graham Lavallin and Christian Granquist, this album is very different from album no 1, Infinity.

Read on...

WYRD: 4th Eden on front cover of Gonzo Weekly

For the very first time, 4th Eden not only get an interview in a magazine but by-jingo by-crikey he's on the front page! So with the help of Steve Rider, we went out to Hartland in North Devon to do the photo-shoot. Firstly, at the folly and then to the standing stone the other side of the valley.

Read on...

TODAY'S BIG CAT NEWS

The hunt for British Big Cats attracts far more newspaper-column inches than any other cryptozoological subject. 

There are so many of them now that we feel that they should be archived by us in some way, so we are publishing a regular round-up of the stories as they come in. 

The worldwide mystery cat phenomenon (or group of phenomena, if we are to be more accurate) is not JUST about cryptozoology. At its most basic level it is about the relationship between our species and various species of larger cat. That is why sometimes you will read stories here that appear to have nothing to do with cryptozoology but have everything to do with human/big cat interaction. As committed Forteans, we believe that until we understand the nature of these interactions, we have no hope of understanding the truth that we are seeking.

  • NEWSLINK: First confirmed cougar sighting in Tenne...
  • NEWSLINK/PHOTO: Officers search for cougar in Oak ...
  • SHARON FROM DOUBTFUL NEWS SENT THIS: Daedalus sea serpent may have been skimming whale

    39-5One of the most famous “sea serpent” cases, that of the sighting from the crew of HMS Daedalus in 1848, has long been cited as a mystery animalDr. Gary J. Galbreath, an evolutionary biologist, authored an article featured on the cover of theSeptember/October 2015 issue of Skeptical Inquirer that makes an argument that the identity of the mysterious creature is now solved: it is a sei whale.
    This claim by Galbreath is worth promoting for discussion, debate, or as the best settlement of the mystery so far, but this particular article has not been made available online to non-subscribers of SkepInq. I’ve repeatedly stated that cryptozoology sites SHOULD cite skeptical literature – it is more measured and reasonable, often done by qualified researchers, considers likely and plausible explanations, and is overall better referenced. But they often do not cite these sources because they are less sensational for those same reasons listed. Therefore, I’m calling this cryptid “news” and calling it to wider attention of audiences interested in claims of unknown creatures.

    NESSIENEWS (Caveat Lector)



    How scientists debunked the Loch Ness Monster
    Many people know that the most famous photograph of the Loch Ness Monster was a total hoax. The “creature” depicted in Robert Wilson's 1934 shot ...

    BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF



    Woman Interviewed About Her Numerous Bigfoot Encounters In Texas
    When this woman moved from Hawaii to East Texas, she had no idea she would be moving into a house right in the middle of bigfoot territory, but ...

    Woman Talks About The Amazing Bigfoot Recording She Got In Oklahoma
    These vocals have made the rounds, and most are stumped as to what they could be. Are these the mighty howls of an Oklahoma bigfoot? Have a ...

    A MONSTER hunter has told how he nearly came face to face with Bigfoot when the beast stole one of his Cheetos. Real-life Indiana Jones Adam ...

    FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES

    What has Corinna's column of Fortean bird news got to do with cryptozoology?

    Well, everything, actually!

    In an article for the first edition of Cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans wrote that cryptozoology is the study of 'unexpected animals' and following on from that perfectly reasonable assertion, it seems to us that whereas the study of out-of-place birds may not have the glamour of the hunt for bigfoot or lake monsters, it is still a perfectly valid area for the Fortean zoologist to be interested in.


    THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN HUNTS STEALTHILY

    The Gonzo Daily - Friday/Saturday
     
    A couple of weeks ago I was writing some blurb to go with my new novel which was published a couple of weeks a go and which I am rather proud of. In it I stated that I thought that I had invented a new genre. ‘High Fantasy’ is a well known genre of literature in which a book is set in an imaginary country like Narnia or Middle Earth complete with unicorns, dragons, dwarves and any other inhabitants dreamed up by the author. ‘Low Fantasy’ is apparently what happens when I book is set on Earth involving “ nonrational happenings that are without causality or rationality because they occur in the rational world where such things are not supposed to occur” I believe that I have invented a new genre: ‘Low-life Fantasy’.
     
    The vast majority of my book and indeed my previous novel The Blackdown Mystery (1999) is largely set in mental hospitals, and disused industrial estates, and the characters are mostly homeless, disabled, substance abusers, and/or on benefits a friend of mine read what I had written and was appalled. “In the current climate you can’t talk about people being on benefits” he said, adding that it would adversely affect my sales. I have been thinking about this ever since. And I will say this now. Some of you already know this, and some of you don’t. I am seriously ill and in receipt of two non-means tested state benefits, and whilst I can write amusing bollocks about cryptozoology or obscure rock musicians I am in no state to hold down anything approaching a proper job.
     
    And so, another week trundles towards its end. Its been a fun week, on the whole and, once again, Jessica and I have quite a lot to show for out toiling in the potato shed. However, next week the calm voyage of our little ship is threatened by a looming iceberg.
     
    Although I can no longer walk unaided, am in constant pain and I am as mad as a hatter I am more than slightly worried by my impending interview with the DWP doctors. Yes, next Wednesday at ten o’clock I will be up in front of the medical examination board who wish to discover whether I am a parasitic enemy of society or not. One hears all sorts of horror stories about people who are terminally ill or in an even more grievous condition then me being told that they are fit to work. I would therefore, like all you people out there in readership land to keep your fingers crossed for me next Wednesday morning, and hope sanity will prevail.
     
     
    THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Merrell Fankhauser - C...
    COMING TOMORROW
    THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
    Review: Steve Hackett - Leeds Town Hall
    YES: BILLY SHERWOOD RELEASES NO MAN’S LAND VIDEO
     
    Gonzo Weekly #152
    www.gonzoweekly.com
     
    4th Eden, David Gilmour, Pink Floyd, Hard Meat, Transmetropolitan, Patto, Steely Dan, Little Feat, Neil Young, Digitiser, Mr Biffo, Roy Weard, Dogwatch, That Legendary Wooden Lion, Hawkwind, Jon Anderson, Mack Moloney, and Yes fans had better look out!
     
    The latest issue of Gonzo Weekly (#152) is available to read at www.gonzoweekly.com, and to download at http://www.gonzoweekly.com/pdf/. It has 4th Eden on the front cover together with an interview with him inside, Doug goes to see David Gilmour at the Royal Albert Hall, Jon muses on Patto and rock and roll archaeology. We review volume one of Transmetropolitan, and Xtul are back in the deep woods. Neil unearths a hidden gem, Thom waxes all poetical like, whilst the legendary Roy Weard continues his regular column, C J Stone does his, and Mr Biffo has more of his regular slices of insanity from the world of Digitiser 2000, and there is a radio show from Strange Fruit, one from Friday Night Progressive and another from our latest addition to the team Mack Moloney. There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and pademelons wanting a snooze (OK, nothing to do with small marsupials who stayed up too late last night, but I got carried away with things that rhymed with OOOOS) than you can shake a stick at. And the best part is IT's ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!
     
    This issue features:
     
    Patto, Hard Meat, Damon Albarn, David Bowie, Paul McCartney, James Dean Bradfield, Sting, Engelbert Humperdinck, Tom Jones, Guy Garvey, Steve Hackett, ELO, Frank Zappa, Strange Fruit, Friday Night Progressive, Mack Maloney's Mystery Hour, Smokin' Joe Kubek, John Russell Murphy, Steve Mackay, Carey Lander, Ronald Gordon Honeycombe, Robert Cooper Phillips, Robbin  Thompson, James "Jim" Diamond, Michael Hugh  Scully, Richard Edward Geoffrey Howe, Brand X, The Raz Band, Johnny Winter, Alexis Korner, 13th Floor Elevators, Nucleus, Spirits Burning, The Pirates, Martin Eve, 4th Eden, David Gilmour, John Brodie-Good, The Allman Brothers, Steely Dan, Little Feat, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Mr Biffo, Roy Weard, Xtul, Hawkwind, Yes, Billy Sherwood, AndersonPonty Band, John Lennon, Rod Stewart, Grateful Dead, The Osbournes, Chris Bell, Tuatha de Danann
     
    Read the previous few issues of Gonzo Weekly:
     
    Issue 151 (Corky Laing)
    Issue 150 (Roger Dean)
    Issue 149 (Tony Palmer in Space)
    Issue 148 (Wally Hope)
    Issue 147 (Thom the World Poet cover)
    Issue 146 (Bee and Flower cover)
    Issue 145 (Dave Brock cover)
    Issue 144 (Percy Jones cover)
    Issue 143 (Billy Sherwood cover)
    Issue 142 (Daevid Allen and Spirits Burning cover)
    Issue 141 (Rick Wakeman cover)
    Issue 140 (Jaki Windmill cover)
    Issue 139 (Raz cover)
    Issue 138 (Galahad cover)
    Issue 137 (Chris Squire cover)
    Issue 136 (Neil Nixon cover)
    Issue 135 (FNP cover)
     
    All issues from #70 can be downloaded at www.gonzoweekly.com if you prefer. If you have problems downloading, just email me and I will add you to the Gonzo Weekly dropbox. The first 69 issues are archived there as well. Information is power chaps, we have to share it!
     
    You can download the magazine in pdf form HERE:
     
    SPECIAL NOTICE: If you, too, want to unleash the power of your inner rock journalist, and want to join a rapidly growing band of likewise minded weirdos please email me at jon@eclipse.co.uk The more the merrier really.
     
    * The Gonzo Daily is a two way process. If you have any news or want to write for us, please contact me at jon@eclipse.co.uk. If you are an artist and want to showcase your work, or even just say hello please write to me at gonzo@cfz.org.uk. Please copy, paste and spread the word about this magazine as widely as possible. We need people to read us in order to grow, and as soon as it is viable we shall be invading more traditional magaziney areas. Join in the fun, spread the word, and maybe if we all chant loud enough we CAN stop it raining. See you tomorrow...
     
    * The Gonzo Daily is - as the name implies - a daily online magazine (mostly) about artists connected to the Gonzo Multimedia group of companies. But it also has other stuff as and when the editor feels like it. The same team also do a weekly newsletter called - imaginatively - The Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this link: www.gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/…/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit…
     
    * We should probably mention here, that some of our posts are links to things we have found on the internet that we think are of interest. We are not responsible for spelling or factual errors in other people's websites. Honest guv!
     
    * Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures (and several others) is an old hippy of 56 who - together with an infantile orange cat named after a song by Frank Zappa, and a small kitten totally coincidentally named after one of the Manson Family, purely because she squeaks, puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon which he shares with various fish, and sometimes a small Indian frog. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his elderly mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the infantile orange cat, and the adventurous kitten?

    NEWS FROM NOWHERE: Friday/Saturday

    ON THIS DAY IN 1942 - During World War II, the British began a major offensive against Axis forces at El Alamein, Egypt. 
    And now some more recent news from the CFZ Newsdesk

  • Parabens and their byproducts found in dolphins an...
  • Alaska to allow hunting of doomed musk oxen that f...
  • Everything's Bigger in Texas: Ancient Supersize Sh...

  • Tesco ends turtle trade: Chain's Chinese stores st...

  • AND TO WHISTLE WHILE YOU WORK... (Music that may have some relevance to items also on this page, or may just reflect my mood on the day)